Should you use ice at all?
For years, we have been taught to put ice on inflamed areas. I bought into that, however, I have had a rethink and believe that it is a mistake. One of the ironies regarding ice use is that we insist that people who have sprained something immediately ice the area. The body swells, we ice. We then dash the person off to casualty and there, the patient gets given an anti-inflammatory injection. So up to now, we have done all that we know to reduce inflammation. After an x-ray, the doctor walks in and explains that the joint needs to be immobilized so that it can mend itself. Guess what, before the ice and before the anti-inflammatory the body was trying to immobilize the area by allowing it to swell. It knew what to do from the get-go.
